Archive for March 9, 2008

While many operators (including myself) are looking to get their hands on Street Fighter IV when it comes out to arcades this summer/fall, one factor that will determine which arcades will be able to pick the game up is the price. AM-Net posted the price in Japan yesterday and according to both AM-Net and a graphic on rs2006.co-.jp, to purchase four kits of SFIV, it will cost about 2280000¥ (roughly $22,000 USD with current exchange rates). To purchase four full body DX SFIV systems it will cost 4180000¥ or roughly $40,000 USD. It’s important to note that they are listing this price in units of four and this is not the price for a single unit and this is pricing for Japan, not international markets which is different.

I decided to see how rates compared with titles that have already been released – AM-Net lists Sega RaceTV for 898,000 yen which is about $8700 USD while distributors in the US are carrying the game for a little less than $8000. So either way whatever the price is listed at on these sites, it appears that are a little bit cheaper when released internationally as there are many factors to consider when it comes to distribution. So when it comes to the final price for SFIV in the US or UK we can only guess at this time but when have a decent idea of where it might be upon release – by looking at the exchange rate, dividing by four and looking at how pricing translates with other games, it could be sold for less than $10k. I hope that it is affordable either way – where Tekken 6 is costing $15,000 USD and Namco doesn’t expect the game to sell well I have to hope that Capcom won’t repeat this same mistake and will list it at a price that small, large and route operators can afford to make a good ROI on.

If anyone needs any more of an indication that Street Fighter IV arcade is going to be huge then you don’t need to look any further than the testing that is taking place in Japan. According to sources, the testing on the game is breaking records with queues down the road. It will be interesting to see if Capcom decides to test the game in the US and how that will go. I do wonder how many people are going back to play it again – either way it appears that the game plays well and is going to be an excellent title for arcades to have this year.

In addition to this news we also have found out about a new SFIV setup – this shows a new monitor add-on (similar to what has been done with a few other games such as Virtua Fighter 5 and Tekken 6) but so far no word on the IC card system.The purpose of such a system is to allow players who may be waiting in line to see what’s going on, which is helpful considering the fact that the SFIV cabinet itself is made for people to sit down to.